For most concertgoers the name of Eugene
Ormandy tends to be associated primarily with nineteenth-century repertory, but the
conductor's record with the Philadelphia Orchestra demonstrates that he did not simply
program works that were familiar to audiences. In 1936, during his first weeks on the
Philadelphia podium, in fact, his choice of William Walton's 1st Symphony resulted in
the exodus of over 200 women during a performance--a typical audience display during
Leopold Stokowski's tenure at the Academy.

National Music Council Award
Presented to Eugene Ormandy
For the Season of 1946-47

Ormandy was responsible for bringing
many new works to Philadelphia, including a number of important premieres. From his
early years in the city through the 1960s and 1970s, the conductor continued to program
the familiar along with the unknown. The result is a lengthy and impressive list of
works by composers from both sides of the Atlantic, among them Samuel Barber, Béla
Bartók, Benjamin Britten, David Del Tredici, David Diamond, Gottfried von
Einem, Ernst Krenek, Bohuslav Martinu, Gian-Carlo Menotti, Darius Milhaud, Krzysztof
Penderecki, Vincent Persichetti, Sergei Prokofiev, Sergei
Rachmaninoff, George Rochberg, Ned Rorem, William Schuman, Roger
Sessions, Dmitrii Shostakovich, and Virgil Thomson.